While Game of Thrones is very much an ensemble show, it could easily be argued that Jon Snow is the central figure in the series. Over the course of the eight-season run, Jon began to take more and more of a key role and develop into the hero of the story.
Most fans would argue that the show's writing started to fall apart in the later seasons, and this had an effect on the character of Jon Snow as well. He started to become a less interesting person and more of a cliché, which hurt the overall series as well. Here are some of the ways Jon Snow got worse and worse on Game of Thrones.
10 Frustratingly Noble
Following the deaths of Ned Stark and Robb Stark, fans were really pushing for Jon to get out of the series alive. However, Jon made many of the same mistakes his father and brother did, specifically, thinking one can remain noble in a cruel world.
Jon is always looking to do the right thing and sometimes that means making the dumbest decisions. It would have been a lot more compelling if Jon started to realize that the noble move is not always the best. This would have made some of his subsequent actions, like killing Daenerys, feel more fulfilled.
9 Ghost
In the very first episode of the series, the Starks find a litter of direwolves out in the wild and take them in as pets. Each Stark has their own direwolf that becomes their loyal companion. Jon's wolf is named Ghost, and he joins him in many battles.
In the books, the direwolves are extremely important to the Stark children with Ghost being probably the most significant. However, as the show went on, Ghost continued to get pushed more and more to the sidelines, and it feels like one of Jon's most important relationships was ignored.
8 His Resurrection
Game of Thrones is known for its many devastating and shocking deaths. At the end of Season 5, it was Jon's turn to get brutally murdered. After allowing the wildlings to cross the Wall, Jon is stabbed to death by his Night's Watch comrades.
However, there was another twist involved early in Season 6 — Melisandre manages to resurrect Jon. This should have been a monumental moment for Jon, but it didn't end up really impacting his character at all. Looking back, it's hard to figure what the point of all that was.
7 Inactive
No character in the show has been involved in more battles than Jon Snow. He is a skilled and seasoned warrior, which is one of the reasons everyone assumed he would be the one to save the day. However, in the final season, the show inexplicable decided to make Jon an inactive character in many of the big scenes.
During the Battle of Winterfell, Jon has little to no impact on the outcome. When Daenerys attacks King's Landing, once again, he is just standing around doing nothing. It's fair that the show didn't want to make him the hero in those scenes, but it makes no sense that he would be so inactive.
6 Relationship With Daenerys
Just as Jon Snow became a more central character as the show went on, Daenerys also took center stage. It was only a matter of time before these two characters met and, in a surprise to few fans, they end up falling in love.
While there was a lot of potential in putting these two together, their relationship made both characters much less compelling. They both started making dumb decisions and were too consumed with their romance, even while the world was at risk. And no one seemed to really care that they were related.
5 Invincible
Once Jon was resurrected by Melisandre, the show tried to make audiences believe that he could still be killed at any moment. However, it soon became a tiresome trend that Jon would find himself in the midst of danger only to be miraculously saved at the last second.
It happened several times during the Battle of the Bastards; it happened several times when he was Beyond the Wall. If it happened once or twice it might have been effective, but it became so overdone that it was just annoying.
4 Mission Beyond The Wall
By Season 7, Jon Snow was the bona fide hero of the series, so it was very disappointing that audiences were forced to follow him on a pretty dumb adventure. Jon hopes to unite all of Westeros in the fight against the White Walkers and he thinks the best way to do this is to capture a zombie and bring it to Cersei.
Such a lazy and ridiculous solution to a complex plan hinted at the show's decline in quality. But more than that, this storyline damaged the character of Jon as it made him look like an unintelligent leader who risked everyone's lives on a bad plan.
3 The Other Starks
Ever since Season 1, fans of the show had been waiting for the moment that the Starks reunited. It took until Season 8 for all the remaining Starks to come together and it didn't end up being the emotional reunion fans had hoped for.
When Jon arrives in Winterfell with Daenerys, it immediately creates tension with his siblings. This feels like manufactured drama that didn't lead to much. The show didn't really explore Jon's dilemma in choosing between his family and queen. It only made him seem less likable.
2 The Iron Throne
Among fans, Jon Snow was a top contender to take the Iron Throne and his candidacy is brought up many times in the final season. With Daenerys becoming more unhinged and Jon's true parentage revealed, many people begin asking for him to take the throne.
However, each time he is asked, Jon says he doesn't want it. It could have been a very interesting aspect of the season to see Jon struggle between not wanting the throne and perhaps having the responsibility to take it. Instead, he just sounds like a whiny child who isn't helpful at all.
1 His True Parentage
The truth behind Jon Snow's true parentage was a big question throughout the series and the truth was finally revealed to Jon in the final season. He is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark and the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.
It is huge news that should be a game-changing moment for the character that ends up meaning nothing. Jon discovers the truth, refuses the throne, and that's the end of it. To waste such a great reveal is one of the major failures of the show.
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June 22, 2020 at 05:30AM
